POLITICO's Pulse Check

Washington’s top pharmaceutical lobby is doing some self-reflection, commissioning a report that looks at its advocacy in the runup to its most consequential legislative loss in decades. Megan R. Wilson talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about the upcoming report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk’s health tech company Neuralink shared updates to its brain-implant technology on Wednesday. Ben Leonard talks with Ruth Reader about the technology, which has big implications for people who suffer with mobility issues such as those with spinal cord injuries or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democratic governors in North Carolina and Kansas are set to take another run at expanding Medicaid next year. Megan Messerly talks with Megan Wilson about how increased federal incentives and Medicaid expansion advocates have gradually worn down traditional GOP opposition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Payne talks with Lauren Gardner about the lobbying from health care providers trying to convince lawmakers to extend the telehealth rules that were passed during the pandemic — and that would expire after the lifting of the Covid-19 public health emergency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doctors, researchers and women’s activists convened in Riga, Latvia, to explore ways to use pills to circumvent anti-abortion laws. Emily Schultheis talks with Ruth Reader about this network of activists that is becoming increasingly international. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services declared that long Covid can be classified as a disability under federal law, opening up protections and accommodations that extend into the workplace. POLITICO labor reporter Nick Niedzwiadek joins Katherine Ellen Foley to discuss how gaps between what the law requires of employers and the on-the-ground reality factor into how people with long Covid can receive disability assistance if merited and be productive employees if possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Carmen Paun talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about her exclusive report on a new strategy being used by abortion opponents. The approach comes as the pills mifepristone and misoprostol, taken at home during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, have become the most common method of abortion in the U.S. and virtually the only option for millions of people in states with laws that have forced clinics to close since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruth Reader and Katherine Ellen Foley discuss the impact on long Covid treatments if the new congress doesn’t approve additional funding for Covid-19 research. The Biden administration has asked Congress for more than $9 billion in additional funding for Covid-19 that would go toward next-generation vaccine development and long Covid research, a poorly understood, chronic condition affecting millions of Americans. But the incoming divided Congress is unlikely to back federal requests funding research into viable treatments for long Covid and big pharma has yet to launch major studies. An ongoing medical debate about what exactly long Covid is means the industry doesn’t yet have a specific target for therapeutic treatment research. Without further funds, the fledgling research on potential treatments may come to a standstill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Krista Mahr about why the rise of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants 6 months and younger is worse this season compared to previous seasons. This statement comes after the Children’s Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics asked the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency over the surging caseloads filling pediatric hospitals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Leonard talks with Ruth Reader about why venture capitalists are pulling back on investments in health tech because of recession fears and rising interest rates — threatening a period of stasis in medical innovation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grace Scullion talks with Lauren Gardner about the newest Covid funding request from President Biden, intense lobbying efforts on possible health care legislation, and a push by some key doctor and hospital groups asking for a public health emergency declaration for RSV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Politicians on both sides of the aisle agree that more safeguards are needed to protect Americans’ health data. The urgency level has risen as data collection online has grown, states have begun enforcing abortion bans and cyberattacks have increased. Ruth Reader talks with Carmen Paun about the multitude of views that lawmakers, lobbyists and the Biden administration have on how to protect health data, particularly data not covered by the federal health privacy law, HIPAA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The military’s Covid-19 vaccine requirement could end if Republican senators succeed in amending the National Defense Authorization Act that’s expected to be taken up in the coming weeks. Megan Messerly talks with Grace Scullion about the legislation. Plus, Carmen Paun discusses the U.N.'s recognition of a huge milestone: the earth’s population now totals eight billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A pair of little-discussed Republican victories on Tuesday threaten to undermine abortion access in two states. Megan Messerly talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about why this highlights a bright spot for the GOP amid an otherwise challenging election night for anti-abortion groups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a gastroenterologist, is a contender to chair the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee if Republicans can eke out control of the Senate. Ben Leonard talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about his recent conversation with Cassidy, who is a telehealth proponent and has repeatedly warned about hackers targeting hospitals and other health care organizations. Plus, Lauren Gardner takes Pulse Check's 60 second challenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A coming Supreme Court decision could have broad implications for who is accountable for ensuring individual rights to federally funded services are protected, including housing, foster care and nutrition. Ruth Reader talks with Grace Scullion about HHC v. Talevski. Plus, Chris Murray on the new study out of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine which estimates immunity to Covid by country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pennsylvania's current Democratic attorney general Josh Shapiro was elected governor Tuesday night, and Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman won against Mehmet Oz. Both Shapiro and Fetterman made abortion rights central to their campaigns. Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with Ben Leonard about what we know and what we don't know so far about how motivating abortion rights were at the ballot box. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although they haven't been focused on as much as abortion, other measures across the health care spectrum are on the ballot Tuesday. Daniel Payne talks with Ruth Reader about Medicaid expansion, medical debt, health as a human right, flavored vape bans and marijuana legalization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From governors to ballot measures, legislatures to attorneys general, voters are casting ballots both directly and indirectly on abortion. Megan Messerly talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about the top races she's watching that will impact who can obtain an abortion, where and how. Also, Alice Miranda Ollstein provides a dispatch from Kentucky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new congressional report links cybersecurity in the health sector to patient safety. Ben Leonard talks with Megan Messerly about the new report from Senate Cybersecurity Caucus co-founder Mark Warner’s (D-Va.) office, which asks Congress to consider getting HHS to set minimum security standards for the health industry. Plus, Katherine Ellen Foley on what you should know from Pfizer and Moderna's earnings calls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, in a deal not yet finalized, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart agreed to pay a total of $13.8 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits for their roles in the opioid crisis. Krista Mahr talks with Grace Scullion about the settlement and the newest developments on the opioid front. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FDA’s tobacco regulatory decision-making process is so slow and opaque that it’s ineffective, say legal, industry and public health experts appearing before an outside panel conducting a commissioner-mandated review of the program. Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Ben Leonard. Plus, Greer Donley, a professor specializing in reproductive health care at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, breaks down what the FDA’s stance on doctors prescribing abortion pills to people who aren’t yet pregnant means in practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pediatric hospitals nationwide are filling with children severely ill with respiratory syncytial virus that, after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, has made a sudden surge. Lauren Gardner talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about how the increase in RSV cases casts attention on a handful of drugmakers with vaccines. Plus, Alice's dispatch from Michigan where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is trying to make an economic case for abortion rights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The leading industry group for biopharmaceutical companies is reeling after the departure of its CEO — just as the Biden administration is poised to begin implementing a new law aimed at reducing drug prices and as the balance of power could shift in Congress. Megan Wilson talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about the turmoil at the industry group. Plus, Chris Hammond, a Covid long-hauler, shares what life has been like for him, the Johns Hopkins trials he's a part of, and why he's not optimistic about additional Covid funding from Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Lim talks with Ruth Reader about the biggest takeaways from MedTech, an annual conference held by the medical device industry. Plus, researcher Eric Bressman discusses a new study that found that sending patients automated text messages to check on them after they’ve left the hospital can reduce their chances of readmission or a visit to the emergency room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two years after Congress offered a fix to struggling rural hospitals, the overwhelming majority are taking a pass. Daniel Payne talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about why. Plus, Katherine Ellen Foley breaks down the CDC's newest Morbidity and Mortality weekly report on monkeypox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona voters could approve a measure designed to stop creditors from gouging people with medical bills, and other states are taking notice. If the Arizona measure passes, the union-backed initiative is likely to be replicated in other red and purple states where progressives have successfully pushed ballot measures to accomplish what conservative legislators will not, like expanding Medicaid, raising the minimum wage and establishing paid sick leave. Megan Messerly talks with Lauren Gardner about the new measure. Plus, David Agus, the Ellison Institute’s CEO, on developing digital Covid certificates, green passes and Covid passports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly three years into the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report from Resolve to Save Lives is highlighting the infectious diseases that didn’t end in catastrophe. Daniel Payne talks with Krista Mahr about what we can learn from case studies of of successful containment in ebola, rabies and cholera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Large health systems are investing big money into providing more care at home — everything from post-operative care to treatments for chronic disease. Even as successive administrations have touted remote patient monitoring programs as key to improving health and reducing unnecessary government spending, state Medicaid offices often remain an impediment to scaling them nationally. Ruth Reader talks with Katherine Ellen Foley about why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration is racing against the dropping temperatures to convince more Americans to get the updated Covid-19 booster shot amid low uptake numbers driven by confusion over the shot, declining infection numbers and profound pandemic fatigue. Krista Mahr talks with Grace Scullion about what the Biden administration's messaging strategy is and whether it's working. Plus, William Schaffner, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, on the limitations of the CDC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum Tuesday that aims to ensure the U.S. is ready to detect and respond to the next large-scale viral or biological threat. Erin Banco talks with Ben Leonard about the administration’s preparedness plans. Plus, Micky Tripathi, the national coordinator for Health IT speaks about HHS's deadline this month requiring health care organizations to share all electronic health care data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FDA will make its case this week to do something it hasn’t in over a decade — order a drug it expedited to the market to be pulled. A panel of independent expert advisers on obstetric and reproductive drugs will decide whether to recommend that Makena, an injection marketed as lowering the risk of preterm birth, remain available for at least some patients. Lauren Gardner talks with Daniel Payne about why the years-long effort to yank the drug’s approval offers a case study of the agency’s accelerated approval program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans are now more concerned about their mental health than Covid, according to a recent poll from Ipsos, and the situation is motivating lawmakers in both parties to provide an increasingly stressed, depressed and anxious populace with the appropriate care. Grace Scullion talks with Lauren Gardner. Plus, David Lim on the FDA’s new rule allowing over-the-counter hearing aids that goes into effect today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top Biden White House and health officials are looking to Japan to potentially make its smallpox vaccine available to countries that need doses to help combat monkeypox. Erin Banco talks with Megan Wilson about why Japan’s smallpox doses could be crucial for low and middle-income countries. Plus, Rep. Elissa Slotkin told Alice Miranda Ollstein why she's still frustrated with Democratic leadership over lack of preparation on abortion access. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rising health care costs are poised to become the next big battle in President Joe Biden’s war against inflation. Sam Sutton talks with Carmen Paun about why your health coverage and out-of-pocket medical bills are about to go through the roof. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Physicians across Pennsylvania are politicking in unprecedented ways with less than a month to go before the midterm election, making the case that the abortion restrictions proposed by Republicans would threaten one of the state’s most important economic sectors. Alice Miranda Ollstein shares a dispatch from Pennsylvania and Michigan with Krista Mahr. Plus, Dr. Katie McHugh on moving her abortion practice to other states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foreign rivals are developing nasal vaccines that could stop Covid transmission and a U.S. company invented the nasal vaccine that an Indian drugmaker licensed. But in the United States, Congress can’t agree on how to pay for additional money to fund next-generation Covid vaccines. Carmen Paun about her reporting with Megan Messerly. Plus, Dr. David Curiel on developing the nasal Covid-19 vaccine that Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech has licensed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sunday marked 100 days since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Since then, 66 clinics in more than a dozen states have stopped providing abortions, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights advocacy and research group. POLITICO’s Megan Messerly talks to Ruth Reader about her reporting. Plus, Adam Cancryn on Biden’s revival of Operation Warp Speed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 100 researchers, scientists and public health professionals want fentanyl-related substances to no longer be Schedule I drugs — saying a different classification has the potential to unlock research on those drugs to treat opioid addiction or other mental health conditions. Daniel Payne and Ben Leonard unpack a Tuesday letter sent to the White House. Plus, Jason Gibbons, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, explains a new study on using buprenorphine in Medicare patients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Predictions of doom about the future of nursing grew, as hospitals reported critical staffing shortages during the Covid surges of 2020 and 2021. But there are signs staffing shortfalls are dissipating as the federal and state governments send aid—maybe. Lauren Gardner talks to Shawn Zeller about whether the crunch is easing. Plus, David Markowitz, a professor of communication at the University of Oregon, on his study about how doctors’ notes (1.8 million of them) can reveal the way physicians sometimes treat patients differently depending on their ethnicity or gender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration is offering the opportunity to use Medicaid to help cover costs for people who cross state borders for abortions. But not a single state has applied. Megan Messerly reports. Plus, Megan Wilson on the lobbying battle heating up on Capitol Hill over legislation that would bolster dialysis coverage following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawmakers are on the brink of missing a critical window to fix America’s broken antibiotic market — and to prepare for the growing crisis of superbugs that federal officials say is a national security threat and experts warn is already a silent pandemic. Krista Mahr talks to Alice Miranda Ollstein about her reporting. Plus, Ruth Reader on four consequential trends that will affect health care’s future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patients seeking drugs to treat everything from arthritis to acne in the dozen-plus states with near-total abortion bans must show extra documentation to prove that they’re not using the drugs to end a pregnancy. Alice Miranda Ollstein dives into her reporting. And, Ruth Reader on the White House's ambitious plan to end hunger in the country by 2030. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden’s Sunday declaration that the pandemic is over caught his own senior health officials off guard. Ben Leonard talks to Adam Cancryn about the President's “60 Minutes” interview and the implications that will have on his policy agenda. Plus, Alice Miranda Ollstein provides a reality check from Capitol Hill, where the likelihood of Congress passing any additional Covid-10 funding seems slim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Syphilis rates jumped 26 percent last year — the biggest annual increase since the Truman administration — amid a broader rise in sexually transmitted infections. Plus, Erin Banco breaks down her seven-month investigation into the global pandemic response of four non-governmental global health organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bolstered by contacts at the highest levels of Western nations, these four organizations took on roles often played by governments — but without the same accountability. Check out Erin's story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have received the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine since the U.S. outbreak started in May, but there’s a long list of things we still don’t know about how efficacious it will be. Plus, Professor Robert Blendon, the co-director of the POLITICO-Harvard polls, on the most interesting toplines from survey data released today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, the FDA authorized Covid booster shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna capable of generating protection against the coronavirus strains circulating most widely in the U.S. The move allows the Biden administration to begin offering boosters just after Labor Day, pending an endorsement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Plus, Katherine Ellen Foley sits down with Dr. Brian King, U.S. chief tobacco regulator, in one of his first public interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a first-of-its-kind application from HRA Pharma for Opill. If green-lit by the agency, Opill would become the first daily, hormonal birth control pill sold without a prescription. The submission of the application follows more than six years of studies the company has run. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stung by messaging missteps over the coronavirus crisis, baby formula shortage and abortion access, the Food and Drug Administration is planning to hire Vin Gupta, a new senior adviser to shore up the agency’s public messaging. Gupta’s hire is part of a series of high-level additions to the FDA in the last few weeks. Adam Cancryn reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, state lawmakers had limited avenues to control abortion. Now, the power to decide when — and whether — abortion should be legal is squarely in their hands. Megan Messerly looks at the states and people re-shaping abortion policies in 2022 and 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices